CommTech

Cloud Technology Tipping Point is At Hand

nheintzen@commtech.com — Thu, 17 May 2012 21:12:54 +0000

Hello Friends of CommTech,

We wanted to pass along an interesting and insightful article that may be of interest to you regarding the future of the cloud and some thoughts on recent advancements and the direction cloud technology is moving.

Google CIO Ben Fried Says Cloud Tipping Point Is At Hand

Steve Rosenbush – Deputy Editor – WSJ

The economics of cloud computing are driving down the cost structure of business so far and so fast that it’s scary, Google CIO Ben Fried says.

“It deeply disturbed me … in 2006, 2007 consumer companies were forcing efficiencies on a scale never seen before,” Fried said Thursday during remarks at the Bloomberg Link Enterprise Technology Summit in New York.

At the time, Fried was working in the technology group at investment bank Morgan Stanley, where he was a managing director of application infrastructure, in charge of software development, electronic commerce and knowledge worker productivity. In 2008, he left the bank and headed to Google, which was at the heart of the disruption that was emanating from the consumer market and beginning to spread through the business world.

Workers, accustomed to using free and simple tools such as Google Apps, Skype, Flickr and iTunes for their personal affairs, now wanted to use those cloud-based software tools at work. And CIOs and other technology executives were beginning to let them, and to experiment themselves with those services.

At the same time, enterprise-focused cloud services such as Amazon Web Services were making it possible for startups and other companies to run their businesses at much lower cost.

Now, just four years later, cloud-based computing is fast approaching a tipping point that will make it the standard for IT, says Fried. “Here’s where I think it is going. The macroeconomic tides – you can’t fight them forever – will force companies to adapt. We’re probably close to that point now,” he says.

The economics of the cloud do more than lower costs. They change the structure of businesses and markets, especially at Google itself, according to Fried. He said Google can afford to offer free, ad-supported services to millions of people because it has taken costs out of its own business. That requires owning many of the elements of its supply chain, because few other companies have the scale to run them as cheaply as it can. Hence, Google builds its own data centers, locating them to take advantage of the lowest-cost source of power – including one right near a fully depreciated hydroelectric dam, Fried said.

The economics of the cloud have led, he said, “to a level of vertical integration never seen before.”

The cloud is also forcing companies, and CIOs in particular, to reassess what their core business truly is, and where they want to invest their capital. The big difference between an enterprise product and a consumer product is that consumer products aren’t customized. “We don’t offer a special version of gmail for financial services firms,” Fried said. “You have to give up that control with consumer technologies. As a CIO, you have to figure out what is really important to you. Do you really want to worry about customizing email and word processing? You give up a little, but you can get back a lot.”

The ripple effects of cloud computing are far from over. Until now, cloud computing has been mostly about the distribution of applications. “The next wave” of cloud computing will enable the sharing of the environment to run those applications, Fried said. “You will be able to take advantage of what we had to build in order to create those applications,” Fried said.

Link to the article

-The CommTech Team

CommTech is the Greater New Orleans IT leader with over 20 years with extensive experience working with both small and large businesses. We specialize in Managed IT Services, IT Project Planning and Network Implementation, VoIP Telephony, Video-Conferencing Solutions, and Disaster Recovery plans.

Please let us know how CommTech can help your business work better through smarter IT.

New Ivy Bridge-Based Servers Announced by Dell

nheintzen@commtech.com — Wed, 09 May 2012 15:19:33 +0000

Touting 53% more performance than a 20-watt Sandy Bridge Xeon CPU, the new PowerEdge C5220 Ivy Bridge-based server with more power-efficient processors should allow for fewer servers in the datacenter.

Read more about the new Dell servers here

Please let us know how CommTech can help your business work better through smarter IT.

CommTech Disaster Recovery Checklist

nheintzen@commtech.com — Thu, 03 May 2012 19:12:39 +0000

If a disaster should strike tomorrow, is your small business prepared? What if your were forced to evacuate for a hurricane or other natural disaster? Having a disaster plan is a key component to your company surviving a catastrophe and CommTech can help!

According to the Association of Small Business Development Centers, more than 1 in 4 businesses will experience a disaster in any year. Forty-three percent of those without a disaster plan never re-open, and only 29 percent are still open after two years. Emergency preparedness is easy and affordable and protects your company’s future in a crisis. Safeguard your business by following this simple checklist:

CommTech Disaster Recovery Checklist

Regularly save documents to portable devices such as flash drives and CDs.
Scan paper copies of critical documents for electronic storage.
Do not leave your backup data next to your regular systems.
Use offsite storage for essential documents and records. CommTech offers DR solutions that provide cloud based data backup and server virtualization all in one.
Collect employee contact information including family and home phone numbers, and set up a communications plan to contact each other.
Create a contact list for important suppliers and vendors.
Identify your property’s vulnerabilities, such as a low flood plain or frequent power outages, and create a plan that covers these obstacles.
Recognize critical business functions, and determine how to keep them operational after a crisis. CommTech can assist with developing a DR Solution to fit any budget from offsite data backup to utilizing a hardened colocation facility to house your critical data systems. If something happens to your office you’re covered!
Develop a plan to remain in operation if your building is unusable. We can help ensure you remain productive anywhere anytime even if your office is unavailable.
Test the disaster plan and make modifications.
Review your insurance coverage, noting that basic insurance does not cover flood damage.
Examine your policy’s business interruption insurance.
Compile a disaster kit for your business with a flashlight, radio, camera, emergency contact list, tools, bottled water, and a first aid kit.

When a disaster strikes, you cannot afford to have your IT systems down for days or weeks. You need to be serving clients and customers throughout the catastrophe.

CommTech has re-Defined disaster planning to help keep your business functioning and operational during and after a disaster. As the most trusted name in IT in the Gulf South, let CommTech help you work smarter, faster and better with proper disaster recovery planning.

You can find more info on Disaster Recovery for your business on our website at www.CommTech.com. If you would like to know more about the different Disaster Recovery solutions available to your company please contact us today!

- CommTech

Please let us know how CommTech can help your business work better through smarter IT.

CommTech is Your Greater New Orleans IT Leader

nheintzen@commtech.com — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 20:18:20 +0000

“I wish to commend you and your entire organization for providing excellent support and customer service”

“Your team handled numerous inquiries and requests for information and demonstrations of the system promptly and with enthusiasm.”

“They came highly recommended. Their breadth of experience was impressive.”

“Our relationship has been virtually perfect. You have moved us light years ahead of where we were a couple of years ago. We look forward to continuing our relationship and the expertise that you all provide.”

“Their high level of expertise is the major factor. CommTech is always trying to do what is best for us.”

CommTech has a 20-year history of providing best-in-class services to businesses like yours. We are proud to be the Greater New Orleans leader in networking and telecommunications technologies for both small and large businesses.

We specialize in IT Managed Services, IT Project Planning and Network Implementation, VoIP Telephony, Video-Conferencing Solutions, and Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity plans.

Our success is built on providing our clients with fast, simple, and effective solutions to their mission-critical IT needs. We are skilled in managing both your routine day-to-day operations and maintenance as well as your more complicated, enterprise level projects. Our dedicated team strives to provide rapid, accurate responses to technical support incidents as well as cost effective turn-key networking and telecommunications solutions.

Please let us know how CommTech can help your business work better through smarter IT.

Contact Us!

Looking for a Cheaper Alternative to the iPad?

nheintzen@commtech.com — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 16:11:22 +0000

Products like the Amazon Kindle Fire have proven that you don’t have to spend $500 to have a useful, fun tablet computer.

Dear Friends of CommTech,

You don’t have to spend $600 to get a decent tablet. Check out these lower cost tablet options that will save you some cash, but make sure to read the reviews so you don’t end up with a $300 coaster. Check out the story below on CNET

Choose the best cheap tablet

CommTech has been the Greater New Orleans IT leader for over 20 years with extensive experience working with both small and large businesses. We specialize in Managed IT Services, IT Project Planning and Network Implementation, VoIP Telephony, Video-Conferencing Solutions, and Disaster Recovery plans.

Please let us know how CommTech can help your business work better through smarter IT.

Hackers Continue to Win Against US Corporations

nheintzen@commtech.com — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 18:44:50 +0000

“I don’t see how we ever come out of this without changes in technology or changes in behavior…”

The US continues to struggle to protect corporate networks from hackers according to recent Wall Street Journal Article.

The article does a good job of demonstrating why strong, secure, and stable IT networks are so important to businesses of all sizes not just large companies.

Working with an IT company with two decades of best-in-class security experience such as CommTech can help ensure that your companies critical and confidential data stays safe. Without a strong security and disaster recovery plan your company may be at risk to hackers around the world.

Learn more about CommTech’s CompleteIT Managed Services program!

- The CommTech Team

Greater New Orleans IT Managed Services from CommTech

nheintzen@commtech.com — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 20:32:36 +0000

Hello Friends of CommTech,

Have you thought about how much productivity your business loses if your systems and email go down for an hour or for a day? It’s difficult to stay competitive when your computers and servers go down. Traditional IT companies often keep you waiting days for service while racking up the hours to fix the problem. More problems mean more money with traditional IT!

CommTech has the answer with our CompleteIT Managed Services.

Features of CompleteIT

24/7 Monitoring
Incident Notification
Remote Support
Asset Management
Backup Testing
CommTech Help Desk
Proactive Support
Predictable Expense
Strategic IT Planning Meetings

CommTech has re·Defined IT in the Greater New Orleans area with our CompleteIT Managed Services Solution.

CompleteIT is a fixed cost solution that addresses greater than 90% of your IT needs remotely from our network operations center and with a team of engineers and technicians, thus taking a fraction of the time it would typically take.

We like to think of our solution as sort of an “OnStar for IT”…always there making sure everything is okay and addressing issues that need attention. Of course we come onsite whenever necessary, but the goal is always to minimize disruption of your business.

CompleteIT provides your business the benefits of an around-the-clock IT staff for much less than the cost of hiring even one employee.

With CompleteIT, we monitor and take responsibility for the health of your network 24/7/365. When an issue is detected it can be fixed quickly and correctly…and before it becomes a problem!

What’s more, because we are responsible for your network and we are working at a fixed cost, CommTech shares in your need to be up, running and doing business with your clients.

CompleteIT = Confidence = CommTech

We’d love to tell you more! Please contact us for more info!

Sincerely,

Nik Heintzen
nheintzen@commtech.com
504-200-1349

Please let us know how CommTech can help your business work better through smarter IT.

iPad3 Video Streaming Coming at a Higher Price

nheintzen@commtech.com — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 20:01:29 +0000

“With LTE, the quality and the streaming is fantastic…but man, you’re really limited in terms of the amount of content you can consume.”

According to an article on WSJ new users of the iPad3 are finding that they’re burning through their data quicker than ever on the superfast 4G networks available from Verizon and AT&T. This result is often having to pay more for additional data per month after exceeding their limit or paying more each month for a bigger data plan.

Faster speeds and the iPad3′s higher resolution are resulting in much heavier data usage. And the current data limits offered by providers may not be generous enough to keep up with a typical iPad3 4G user. According to the WSJ article, “Either consumers will have to get used to paying more or wireless carriers will come under pressure to change their pricing models.”

For the time being keep an eye on your monthly data limits while streaming March Madness, and stay tuned to see if providers readjust their pricing models to be more accommodating.

The CommTech Team

CommTech has been the Greater New Orleans IT leader for over 20 years with extensive experience working with both small and large businesses. We specialize in Managed IT Services with our CompleteIT program, IT Project Planning and Network Implementation, VoIP Telephony, Video-Conferencing Solutions, and Disaster Recovery plans.

Please let us know how CommTech can help your business work better through smarter IT.

Microsoft Lowers Pricing on Office 365 by up to 20%

nheintzen@commtech.com — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 21:07:31 +0000

Hello Friends of CommTech,

Microsoft announced today that they’re lowering the prices of most of the Office 365 Enterprise Plans and standalone services by up to 20%. These changes are effective today for new and renewing customers.

One of the most attractive Office 365 solutions, Plan E3, is now only $20 a month per user and includes Exchange Online in the Cloud with email archiving and a complete desktop version of Office Professional Plus and more. The standalone Exchange Online is now only $4 a month per seat! It has never been more cost effective and easier to move your business to Microsoft Office 365 and the Cloud.

Shoot us an email or give us a call 504-200-1300 if you’d like more info about moving your business to the Cloud with Microsoft Office 365!

The CommTech Team

CommTech has been the New Orleans and Gulf South IT leader for over 20 years with extensive experience working with both small and large businesses. We specialize in Managed IT Services, IT Project Planning and Network Implementation, VoIP Telephony, Video-Conferencing Solutions, and Disaster Recovery plans.

Please let us know how CommTech can help your business work better through smarter IT.

ShoreTel Product Videos

nheintzen@commtech.com — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 16:12:09 +0000

Greetings Friends of CommTech,

ShoreTel has put together some videos that provide a great overview of their Enterprise-Class VoIP solution. Check them out below!